Effects of Girls’ Menstruation Cycles on Sustainable School Attendance, a Study of Mvomero District, Tanzania

Abstract

Poor menstrual hygiene has been associated with serious ill-health, including reproductive tract and urinary tract infections. Inadequate water and sanitation facilities are a major impediment to school attendance for girls during menstruation, The objective of the study was to find out the effects of girls’ menstruation cycles on sustainable school attendance in Mvomero district. The purposive sampling and simple random sampling methods were used in the determining the sample size of the study. A total of 116 respondents were involved in the study, i.e. Five heads of schools, five class teachers, six matrons and one hundred teenage girls aged 13-15 years from eighteen public secondary schools within Mvomero district. The data were collected through questionnaires and documentary reviews to determine the current situation on teenage girls’ awareness of menstruation as a normal biological function, impacts of menstrual cycles on school attendance and the provision of sanitary towels amongst school girls and their influence on sustained school attendance. Validity of data was tested using the pilot study. Cronbach Coefficient Alpha was used to test the reliability where the coefficient of 0.86 was released and it was considered reliable. The quantitative data were analyzed and presented in the APA tables for discussion whereas the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The study results revealed that most teenage girls have knowledge on menstruation as a normal biological function that occurs periodically. It was concluded that most teenage girls had health challenges during their menstruation which negatively affected their sustainable school attendance.